She did not need to know that before finding that middle ground, the Crystal Exarch was seldom seen at the graveyards and memorials of the First after he provided words of comfort. Sometimes there were remains to entomb, but often the most that would be buried were scant belongings, words of love and care enscribed upon the small, wooden grave markers. He had no business assuaging his grief and guilt in this way, and especially not when the people of the Crystarium looked to him for guidance. On the matter of death, no matter how practiced he became, it never felt any easier. It was not until he had successfully summoned the Warrior of Light โ and their companions, to his immense chagrin โ that he allowed himself the opportunity to grieve all that they had lost, all those he had been unable to save. "Who did you lose?" she asked, her voice just as soft as his. G'raha's lips curled in a smile which tasted like ash and aether. "Everyone and no one, all at once. When I awoke, much like you, the world I knew and loved was long gone, as were the people I had known. That, I had expected, but it was the way that they died that I could not stomach." And so, it was undone.
i'm in so much pain pain pain pain #millywrites
